De Bruyne keen on Chelsea escape

Chelsea winger Kevin De Bruyne is a January transfer target for Wolfsburg - and the player's agent has said he could be interested in the switch.

De Bruyne, 22, started Chelsea's opening Premier League win against Hull and the goalless draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, but has since fallen out of favour.

He was dropped from Jose Mourinho's first-team set-up prior to Chelsea's Champions League win at Steaua Bucharest and told to train with the Under-21 squad.

That sparked speculation that he could make a return to the Bundesliga, where he spent last season on loan at Werder Bremen.

"For Kevin, the competition at Chelsea is bigger than at Bremen. All the same, he played well in pre-season but now it appears Jose Mourinho has other plans," the player's agent Patrick de Koster said.

"If Kevin needs to find a new club in January, we'll talk to [Wolfsburg general manager] Klaus Allofs. Klaus is a friend. We worked on the deal between Chelsea and Bremen, and that was a good deal for everyone involved."

He said there was "currently no contact with any Bundesliga club" but added: "We'll have a situation to deal with in January. If we need to find a solution for Kevin, then there is a least one club."

Wolfsburg are currently 14th in the Bundesliga, and their season took a turn for the worse when they became the first team to lose to new boys Eintracht Braunschweig a week ago.